Hunter Tylo (born Deborah Jo Hunter on 3 July 1962 in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

) is an author and a former American actress and model. She portrayed the role of Taylor Hayes (1990–2002, 2004–14, 2018–19) on ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...

''.

Early life

Tylo was raised in Springtown, Texas. Tylo has an older sister Elizabeth as well as a younger brother named Cliff. Tylo has been credited as Deborah Morehart; Morehart was the last name of her first husband.

Career

In 1984, credited as Deborah Morehart, Tylo appeared in the sorority

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

'' The Initiation'' with future ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime-time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex in West Hollywood, ...

'' actress

Daphne Zuniga Daphne Eurydice Zuniga (; born October 28, 1962) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1982 slasher film '' The Dorm That Dripped Blood'' (1982) at the age of 19, followed by a lead role in another slasher film '' The Initiation ...

. Tylo subsequently became well known after playing regular roles in US daytime

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

s. Her television debut was on ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' in 1985. Tylo was fired from the role in 1988, on the grounds of having a relationship with another cast member,

Michael Tylo Michael Edward Tylo (October 16, 1948 – September 28, 2021) was an American actor. Career Among his numerous soap opera roles, he was best known for his portrayal of Quinton Chamberlain on ''Guiding Light''. He played the role from 1981 to 19 ...

(whom she married in 1987). In 1989, Tylo was cast as Marina Toscano, the half-sister of Isabella Toscano, on ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

''. The character was an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Steven "Patch" Johnson and

Kayla Brady Kayla Brady Johnson is a fictional character from ''Days of Our Lives'', a soap opera on the NBC network. She made her first appearance in 1982. Kayla was created by Pat Falken Smith as one of the original members of the Brady family. She is kno ...

. Tylo later said, "Everyone hated my character. ..I hated her. They roducerssaid they were going to do something with her, but they never did. ..I dreaded going to work for the last few weeks I was on the show." The character was later

killed off The killing off of a character is a device in fiction, whereby a character dies, but the story continues. The term, frequently applied to television, film, video game, literature, anime, manga and chronological series, often denotes an untimely o ...

and Tylo left the series in 1990. Discouraged by her lack of success on soap operas, Tylo decided to quit acting and enrolled at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, intending to be a

pre-med Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med ...

student. She completed two years towards her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

. As she and her husband were preparing to move to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

permanently, she was offered the role of Dr. Taylor Hayes on ''

''. She initially resisted the part but eventually relented. She began her tenure in 1990, while still pursuing her degree at Fordham. In 2000, Tylo released her autobiography, ''Making a Miracle''. Tylo left ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' in 2002. She returned to the show in 2004 for a two-episode appearance as a vision. In May 2005, she returned as a series regular and left the series again in July 2013. In 2014 she returned to the show for a several weeks story arc. From 2018 to 2019, she returned as a recurring character. Tylo has been listed twice on ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People In The World".

Melrose Place Lawsuit

In 1996, Tylo was cast in the primetime soap opera ''

'' and opted to leave ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' to take the role. However, she was fired by ''Melrose Place'' producer

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the television series ''Family'' (1976–1980), ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977� ...

prior to filming any episodes for the series when she announced she was pregnant. The character Tylo was to play, Taylor McBride, was recast with

Lisa Rinna Lisa Rinna (born July 11, 1963) is an American actress, television personality and model. She portrayed Billie Reed on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' and List of Melrose Place characters#Taylor McBride, Taylor McBride on Fox B ...

taking the role. Tylo quickly returned to ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. Tylo sued Spelling on grounds of discrimination for being pregnant and won $4.8 million from a Los Angeles jury. Spelling argued that Tylo's pregnancy rendered her unable to play the character, who was supposed to be a sexy seductress. During the trial, Tylo published pictures of herself while pregnant, which showed that she retained a slim figure. Prior to trial, during the

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

phase of the

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

, Tylo's lawyers won a partial victory in an interlocutory appeal challenging a lower court's order compelling her to answer a broad range of personal questions. The Court of Appeal established Tylo's right to refuse to answer questions in her deposition about marital problems and psychological treatment, although the Court sustained the portion of the order which compelled her to answer questions about her efforts to become pregnant, her husband's ability or inability to impregnate her, and communications with her agent with respect to her efforts and ability to become pregnant. The case is widely recognized as an important one in establishing the right of privacy in deposition and the right of actresses to continue to work while pregnant.

Personal life

Marriages and children

Tylo has been married three times and has four children. At age 17 she married her first husband, Tom Morehart, in 1980. They have a son, Christopher. Tylo and Morehart divorced in 1984. In 1987, she married actor

. The couple had one son, Michael Edward "Mickey" Tylo Jr (22 April 1988) and two daughters, Izabella Gabrielle (November 12, 1996) and Katya Ariel (January 15, 1998). In 1998, Katya was diagnosed with a rare cancer of the eye called

retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and 80% of retinoblastoma cas ...

. Doctors removed the affected right eye and began

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

. Later in the year, a tumor was detected in Katya's other eye; that tumor inexplicably disappeared. Katya recovered and wears a prosthetic right eye. The couple divorced in 2005. On October 18, 2007, their 19-year-old son drowned in the family pool in

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

. The Clark County Coroner concluded that Michael Tylo Jr.'s death was caused by "drowning due to seizure disorder" and was ruled

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by Risk assessment, unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers ...

al. In May 2008, Tylo filed a restraining order against boyfriend Corey Cofield, claiming that he had acted violently towards her and her children. In October 2008 the order was terminated by Tylo stating that Cofield was "...actively been taking parenting classes and has attended family and couple's therapy". Her mother Joanne Hunter died in 2009. On November 29, 2009, Tylo married Gerson Archila in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. The marriage was annulled on August 30, 2018. Archila had changed his name from Gerrson Archila Morales to Gerson Archila to avoid his criminal past of poor moral character being detected. Archila has been convicted for three counts of spousal abuse, auto theft, drug paraphernalia, misrepresentation by false identity, and hiding a criminal past.

Religion

Tylo is a

born again Christian To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

. She attributes her daughter Katya's recovery from cancer to constant prayer and credits her faith for helping her deal with the death of her son, Michael.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Book Sources

References

External links

Hunter Tylo Official Site
*
Hunter Tylo on the Net

Retinoblastoma International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tylo, Hunter Living people 20th-century American actresses 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century American actresses 21st-century evangelicals American evangelicals American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Fordham University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)